Over a period of about 15 years, I received encouraging and prophetic words from a dear sister in Alabama who followed Sound of Faith Ministries. She loved the messages in our monthly magazine, Faith IS Action.
Some of the words the Lord gave her to give to me over the years were astonishing because of their accuracy and particular word choices. For instance, once she wrote that the Lord said to her: “Sharon’s mind is like a magnet, picking up the tiniest spiritual nuggets.” At that particular time, I had been praying: “Lord, let my soul be like a magnet to draw Your Word to me, and my spirit like a sponge to drink it up.”
Another time, she wrote: “Sharon, I believe with your insatiable appetite for more of God, as you reach up and God reaches down to you, it will cause a fusion. God’s Spirit overtakes your carnal spirit and causes a blending throughout, with power and authority in your ministry.”
I always looked forward to hearing from Mary. Whenever I opened the mailbox and saw a letter postmarked Alabama, I knew I was going to receive a word from the Lord. One day, in August 2011, she enclosed a little tract entitled: “Others May—You Cannot.” The other day, while looking through some old books, a copy of this tract serendipitously fell out.
This is how it reads:
“If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. God’s call will put such demands of obedience on you that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians. At times, He will let other people do things which He will not let you do.
“Other Christians who seem very religious will push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans. You cannot, and if you attempt it, you will meet with failure and rebuke from the Lord.
“Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you to despise yourself and all your good works.
“Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you [with less]. God wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may demonstrate His faithful love for you in supplying your needs day by day.
“God may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity in order to produce some fragrant fruit for His coming glory which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it now. The reward for your work is held in the hands of Jesus, and you will not see it until He comes.
“The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you with a jealous love. He will rebuke you for the little words and feelings or for wasting your time. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He does not owe you an explanation of these mysteries. But if you give yourself to be His child, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and give you the precious blessings for those who belong, heart and soul, to Him.
“Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit. It is His option to tie your tongue, or chain your hand, or close your eyes in ways that He does not seem to use with others. And when you are so possessed by the living God, that your heart delights over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.”
Reading this again after so many years, my response is Whoa! I remember when I first read it all those years ago, how I understood what God was doing in my life. And I was willing—oh so willing for it to be done God’s way—not mine. It explained the narrow way I am called to walk. It explained why others may indulge themselves in fleshly things and earthly pursuits that I cannot. I have always known there is a high price to pay for the anointing, and God does not have any bargain basement sales when it comes to walking in the power of the anointing. And many are not willing to deny themselves to pay the price.
Prior to this, when I was in my late 20s I received this prophetic word during a revival I was attending: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).
At the time, my abusive marriage was coming to an end, and I was struggling to raise two small boys with no financial support from their father who was strung out on drugs and alcohol. I felt so alone: I did not have the love and companionship of marriage, and neither did I have the fun of enjoying time with girlfriends and single life. I was trapped in a middle ground of depression and low expectations for my future.
I did the only thing that made sense and the thing that brought me hope and joy: I counted all those things as loss, and I dove into the things of the Spirit and in pursuit of the excellent knowledge of the words and teachings of Jesus. In time, He graciously restored those losses, and He did so “beyond my wildest imagination.” In fact, He even told me beforehand in those exact word that He would, as my father, R.G. Hardy prophesied over me.
Jesus said: “Whosoever loses his life for my sake will save it: (Luke 9:24).
What about you? Are you willing to walk the narrow way—not only of Christianity—all believers are called to walk through the strait gate and narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14). But if the Holy Spirit is calling you to a higher consecration, a more confining one, how will you respond?
We have come to a time when many Christians are looking for an easier way, throwing off what they consider to be restrictive constrictions that are too demanding. Perhaps that was fine for a former generation who were old fashioned and condemning. Now they have become enlightened by a grace whose path is broad and its foundations of sanctification eroding. They believe that those who cling to the old way do not understand the freedom of this grace they embrace. They have a new liberty to live a more social gospel with an emphasis on the natural plain and less on the spiritual. But as Jesus said: “For unto whom much is given, much shall be required” (Luke 12:48).
As the title of this timeless tract testifies: Others may—but I cannot.
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